A Transformative Experienc e

In the School’s strategic plan, Pegasus recommits to providing students with a transformative experience. A promise for academic rigor is implied, and teachers at Pegasus want even more for students. We also commit to providing a space for our students to learn and grow socially and emotionally. Two years ago, our faculty read Dr. Michelle Borba’s bestselling book, UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-AboutMe World. Our Pegasus family culture focuses on empathy, kindness, positive social skills, and strong communication and has since our founding. When parents and teachers partner together, we know this works best.

How did we bring Borba to Pegasus to speak to our staff and parents? The partnership mentioned earlier was just the right path. Led this year by Sharlene Grover and Leila Cesario, the PTO PEGtalks program is starting its fourth year of bringing speakers to our community. Through a professional development opportunity, Michelle Carr, Reading Specialist, made a connection with Borba and her staff. With a bit of magic and teamwork among parents, teacher leaders, and administration, we knew this opportunity to host Borba at Pegasus would help all of us grow as educators and parents, and continue our focus on social emotional wellness and developing empathy in our children. Borba’s visit affirmed and inspired our faculty. When touring campus, Borba took pictures that confirmed her work: a Kindergarten classroom bulletin board that had a garden with bees pollinating the flowers with empathy, and some of Dr. Hathaway’s favorite quotations in the rose garden that recognize what a visionary she was when it came to social emotional learning over 35 years ago. Borba shared the nine essential habits of empathetic children with both faculty and parents. While she saw examples of students and teachers showing empathy on campus and learned more from interviewing some of our middle schoolers, we identified even more ways that we could build these skills in our students.

Emotional Literacy From greeting teachers at the door, to utilizing eye contact during public speaking presentations, we’ve got this one covered. Interpersonal skills are developed through class meetings in the lower school and through our middle school advisory program. We recommend that parents practice these skills by making time for family dinners a few times a week and setting devices aside.

Moral Identity From day one in our pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten programs, students are taught that the number one community promise is to “Be Kind.” Their identity as Pegasus students and relationships with teachers help them feel connected and safe. Borba recommends developing a family slogan or motto. Additionally, we recommend describing a child as a helper (noun) instead of helping (verb). This simple act results in a child being more likely to help and feel more acknowledged.

Perspective Taking & Moral Imagination Reading and discussion develop perspective taking and moral imagination. Our fourth-grade program has a year-long theme of “Perspectives” as they study the storied history of California from the perspective of Native Americans, explorers from Spain and Russia, the Missionaries, and later, the settlers from the East Coast. Beyond that, parents and students only need to visit our library. Books on our Battle of the Books List such as Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan develop alternative ways of thinking and cultural understanding. Eighth graders read both The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee to work on this skill. We recommend that families regularly visit our library for family hour and to hear advice from librarians, Carin Meister and Brooke Baum.

One example of this occurred in the library when a mom checked out a picture book called The Rough Patch. Baum explained to the mom that the book was incredibly sad, and the mom said, “I know. I did that on purpose.” Then the mom explained that she learned from the Borba talk that literature can be a way to expose children to many different emotions and increase their emotional literacy. Parents are actually putting her advice into practice.

Self-Regulation Dr. Borba shared that self-regulation can be a greater predictor of success than I.Q. This is precisely why teachers share notes both about academics and about a child’s classroom behavior. On our SEL wheel, two of the five competencies, selfawareness and self-management, fall under the self-regulation umbrella. Teachers continue to help students grow in their practice of mindfulness to learn various ways to manage emotions and distress. We recommend that families consider mindfulness. Apps such as Calm and Stop, Breathe, & Think Kids are two suggestions.

Practice Kindness Teachers seek ways to recognize students for practicing kindness. Our teachers take an active stance on this by pointing out kind acts, recognizing students with kindness stickers, and by sending home postcards to families to recognize students who are showing our core values. We recommend that instead of asking your child at the end of the day, “So what did you learn today?” ask “What’s something kind that you did today?”

Collaboration Teamwork abounds at Pegasus. ASB members work together to plan dances and lead school events, while our sports teams, robotics, and debate teams work together to shine in their respective areas. In the younger grades, teachers pair and group students to engage in conversations about reading or collaborate on group projects. At first, roles may be assigned, but we hope to help students develop the “we” mindset as opposed to the “me mindset” as Borba outlines. Participating in community service and athletic programs outside of school extends and enhances this skill.

Moral Courage & Altruistic Leadership Teachers speak the language and encourage the upstander to shine. This is modeled through role play and read alouds. The middle school community service and PTO’s leadership in cultivating service for families and kids continue to help our students focus on making a difference for others. Our mission prepares students to “make a positive impact on society.” Our hope is that you will also point out and celebrate examples of people who are changemakers.

Following her visit, Borba wrote, “I came home rejuvenated. I continue to rave about your school — you are doing something really special. I love so much of Pegasus. There’s hope. Your school community is stellar...I felt it.” We couldn’t agree with Borba more about our wonderful school and we thank our parents for incredible partnership in building wings for our bright (and empathetic!) learners.

Jen Green is the Lower School Director and has two daughters attending Pegasus, Maya and Makena. Contact: jgreen@thepegasusschool.org

Michelle Carr is the Lower School Reading Specialist and alumni parent to Brandon, Tracy and Sam. Contact: mcarr@thepegasusschool.org